Monthly Archives: October 2004

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported yesterday that the Swift Boat Vets have placed a $500,000 television ad buy in Minnesota. A Swiftee spokesman said: “We had some extra donations and figured that Minnesota would be a good place to put the money.” Until now, Swift Boat Vets’ ads have been seen in Minnesota only on cable television. The Strib is impressed: “The ad buy is huge by Minnesota standards. Political »

IRS regulations bit the dust again today, as they have every Sunday throughout the campaign. John Kerry works the crowd at a service at Shiloh Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio: Am I the only one who thinks this conduct is racist? Can you imagine President Bush turning a religious service into a campaign event in a predominantly white congregation? Is there anything other than the fact that these parishioners are »

This is from ABC’s The Note: This from the Des Moines Register Poll is potentially really key for Iowa and perhaps beyond: “Twenty-seven percent of Iowa adults surveyed said they had already voted. Kerry leads Bush, 52 percent to 41 percent, among that group of early-bird voters. Among the 73 percent who said they definitely would vote on Tuesday, Kerry and Bush are tied.” Iowa is the Upper Midwest state »

During the Democratic national convention, John Edwards asked America to judge John Kerry by the statements of those who served with him in Vietnam. The only problem was that the MSM was doing its best to hide most of these statements from the American public. Once that problem was overcome, the Democrats lost interest in the views Kerry’s “brothers” and, in fact, chose to slander many of these brave men. »

George Will sets out his case for re-electing President Bush. For Will, who has been quite critical of the president, it boils down to the case for defeating John Kerry: Reasonable people can question the feasibility of Bush’s nation-building and democracy-spreading ambitions. But, having taken up that burden, America cannot prudently, or decently, put it down. The question is: Which candidate will most tenaciously and single-mindedly pursue victory? The answer »

The lack of coverage by the mainstream media of the issues related to John Kerry’s military record and his behavior as an antiwar leader is an almost unbelievable scandal. Of course it goes hand in hand with the fabricated and fraudulent stories to which the mainstream media have devoted their resources. The mainstream media’s combination of nonfeasance and malfeasance will travel far with us along our road after election day. »

Under the heading “Zip that lip,” the New York Post reports: This campaign is ending just in time before someone gets hurt. John Kerry’s stepson, Chris Heinz, 31, displayed his mother Teresa’s famous lack of rhetorical restraint at a recent campaign event with a group of Wharton students. Philadelphia magazine reports: “Heinz accused Kerry’s opponents – ‘our enemies’ – of making the race dirty. ‘We didn’t start out with negative »

The New York Post reports: Osama bin Laden doesn’t seem nearly so cocky in the unedited version of a videotape aired on al-Jazeera, complaining that the manhunt against him has hampered al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden’s newest tape may have thrust him to the forefront of the presidential election, but what was not seen was the cave-dwelling terror lord talking about the setbacks al Qaeda has faced in recent months. »

Newt Gingrich brings a historian’s eye and a politician’s discernment to his elaboration of the unifying theme in President Bush’s leadership: “When you vote for the president’s re-election, you’re voting for courage…” (Courtesy of reader Vince Haley.) Paul Johnson also brings a historian’s eye to his development of the thesis that President Bush must be reelected and John Kerry must be stopped: “Campaign 2004: High stakes.” As Gingrich elaborates on »

Is there anybody out there who’s trying to avoid political news until election day? I feel like the the character Luke in one of my favorite songs, The Band’s “The Weight.” The tired narrator of the song’s story tells Miss Moses that there’s nothing she can say to Luke — that old Luke is “just waiting on the judgment day.” Come to think of it, I’m feeling a lot like »

Reader John Richardson sent us a number of great photos from President Bush’s Target Center appearance today. This one I especially like, for some reason. President Bush is a good man; if he is re-elected, he may go down in history as a great man. Somehow this photo conveys that, for me, anyway. Click to enlarge: »

Yesterday, in “For whom the Minnesota Poll tolls,” I anticipated that the Minneapolis Star Tribune would release a poll on Sunday that would show John Kerry pulling away from President Bush in Minnesota. Whatever its other defects, the Star Tribune cannot be faulted for unreliability. Exactly as anticipated, Sunday’s Star Tribune reports that John Kerry has opened a 49-41 lead over President Bush in the results of the latest Star »

I spent today at a debate tournament at my daughter’s high school (she won first place in her event). One of the other parents there is a distinguished law professor who has just published a book, and was going to speak later in the day at a local book store. He noted that most of his friends would not be present because they are out of town, campaigning for John »

Repubublicans Dave Durenberger and Rudy Boschwitz were elected to the Senate from Minnesota in 1978, the year of the “Minnesota massacre” of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Republican Al Quie was elected governor as well, knocking off incumbent Rudy Perpich. As senators, Durenberger and Boschwitz were a study in contrasts. Boschwitz was a party-builder and gregarious battler for Republican causes. With the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980, Boschwitz was »

President Bush spoke at the Target Center in Minneapolis today. He drew a crowd of 23,000; I didn’t think the building could hold that many. Mike Tice, the coach of the Minnesota Vikings, introduced Bush, giving him both a Vikings jersey and a ringing endorsement: “When it’s the fourth quarter and the game is on the line, you want somebody with a cool head calling the plays.” The Associated Press »

Take whatever comfort you want from today’s Newsweek poll, which shows President Bush with a six-point lead among likely voters. But I still think the Newsweek poll isn’t worth much, one way or the other. The poll’s internals aren’t disclosed, but here is the key fact: Independents seem to be moving toward Bush. Last week Kerry captured independents »